About Me

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

For the record, I have not completely abandoned my blogging endeavors. In fact, I regularly write posts in my head. The problem lies in actually typing them out and posting them. My life seems so full right now and my thoughts so scattered that I am afraid that by publishing my rantings, I will only confirm suspicions that I have indeed lost my mind.

But, the other day, my baby sister wrote me an email informing me that I had not updated my blog in a while and that she counts on the anecdotes from my life for her amusement. I wasn't exactly sure how to take that, so I guess I'll just try not to think about it too hard and do as she says.

So, summer came and went and the kids are back in school. Of course, since nothing can be easy in our life, our three boys are going to three different schools all in completely different directions. Scouts is on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I teach on Monday and Thursday nights. Piano is on Saturday afternoons plus practice every day with homework and exercise squeezed in there somewhere. Our schedule is packed down to the minute and I'm not entirely sure that it is healthy, but I'm not sure what to cut, so until one of us falls down in shear exhaustion and physically can't pull ourselves up, it will continue. I should probably be reading that book someone wrote about the "over-scheduled kid," but believe me, when and if I get some free time, I refuse to use it reading about something that will only serve in making me feel more guilty.

My job is going well. According to my student surveys, I am once again the most awesome math teacher ever. Of course, this amuses me on several levels. For instance, how can I manage to get in front of a group of 20 students for 3 hours and lecture on the finer points of the Pythagorean theorem, but when it comes to calling for a babysitter, I break out in a cold sweat and promise my husband all kinds of favors if he will just please do it for me? How is it that the world's biggest introvert chooses teaching as her career? Yet, I still go back quarter after quarter and for some reason, I don't think I'd really be happy anywhere else.

In conclusion, since I need to go meet a bus in a few minutes and I may never finish this if I don't just do it now, I will list some of the other great "accomplishments" of the Cook family.

* My almost three-year-old Michael is not the only kid in his preschool class that is not potty-trained and the preschool is okay with that meaning we don't have to put real underwear over a pull-up and fake it for three hours twice a week.

* J got his completely paid for braces off and is in a retainer for a few years until he gets completely new braces complete with new payments. Of course, in that same week, Spencer started with the whole hullabaloo, which means that the current payments will continue - just under a different child. In fact, one look at Michael's teeth and I'm pretty sure that we will be making some sort of payment to an orthodontic establishment for the next 14 years.

* In the first three weeks of school, J has managed to only pull one ticket and it wasn't even for a discipline issue. Apparently, he did the wrong math page as homework. I am aware that there is a honeymoon period going on right now with the new teacher and she may be overlooking a few of his tendencies towards behavior unbecoming of a student, but I have hope.